Love Blooms Twice
by Atemxyugi kfXjinx
Summary: The orphaned Yuki sisters. They were separated from each other when the Akatsuki went after them. But why are they hunted down? Natsu has been found by the Kazekage Gaara in the desert. Toki is found by Team Kurenai.Both of the girls know why their beening hunted down like a pair of deer but they already know what happened to Gaara when he was kidnapped by Deidara.Whats the future?
1. Separated

**~Pony: Oh hey peepers! *looks away nervous like while scratching the back of her head* Heheh, um ya uh sorry guys for like, makin' you wait on my next fanfic. But so sorry, but Atem, Yugi, Kid Flash & Jinx aren't going to be here with us. But I have my very close school friend (so very close like almost sister like :] ) Here's Invader Tex everyone! **

**~~Invader Tex: Sup guys, I read a lot, I love math and I also love to troll people who hate Hetalia character, Russia.**

**~~Pony: BITCH!**

**~Invader Tex: Remember the Troll song? *show a picture of the troll face on her iPod***

**~~Pony: Bitch. _-_ … you want to do the **_**Disclaimer**_**?**

**~~Invader Tex: No you do it. I wouldn't really know what to say.**

**~Pony: Keh, that's easy. *clears throat* **_**I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden at ALL! **_**...Though I **_**do**_** wish that I did. ON WITH ZEH FIC! XD**

**~~~Invader Tex facepalms.**

**~~Pony: Oh by the way guys, these are the descriptions of Toki: her chakra element is lightning, her chakra color is purple, she writes in a diary (positively), she's forgetful, stray minded and serious.**

**~~Invader Tex: And Natsu is psychotic and comedic and she, like her sister, is also forgetful of things. Her chakra element is water and the color is yellow for some strange reason. **

_**Love Blooms Twice**_

_**Ch. 1: Separated**_

************^.^************

"Hey uh, Kankuro?" Temari asked her brother.

"Ya?" Kankuro turned towards his worried looking older sister. Temari looked back at their guest room. She felt a hand on her right shoulder, she looked over to the puppeteer.

"She'll be fine. Gaara knows her more than we do combined."

Temari nodded, "Ya you're right. But I'm still worried; all of those cuts, bruises-"

"Temari, Kankuro." Both of the sand sibs immediately looked at the door way of the guest room. There stood the Kazekage of their great village and home. Adorned in his blue and white robes, stood their younger brother.

"Gaara."

Kankuro then turned to Temari, "C'mon Temari, let's head downstairs for a while."

Temari nodded but looked back at Gaara 1 last time before heading downstairs. Gaara closed the door and turned to the girl in the bed. Gaara walked over and sat down in his chair beside the girl's bedside.

Gaara took the girl's hand in his, stroking it gently. Gaara looked at the girl in front of him. He began to stroke the injured girl's soft deep dark auburn brown hair. The Kazekage looked over to her closed eyes. Now if they were open, you would see deep cyan blue eyes, "What happened to you, Nastu?" _'And where is your sister, Toki?' _Gaara thought.

_**/FLASHBACK\**_

_It was earlier in the blazing heat of the evening when the Kazekage was returning home from the Hidden Leaf Village—Konoha; a political meeting with the 5__th__ Hokage. Gaara was accompanied by both Temari and Kankuro._

_They were nearing their village, Suna when Gaara stopped. "What's wrong Gaara? Why did we stop?" Kankuro questioned._

_Temari looked over at where Gaara was looking at, "C'mon _puppet boy_."_

_Kankuro growled at the nickname. Temari could tell that Gaara wanted to take a small walk to think over what Lady Tsunade said about the Akatsuki have been doing lately. The Akatsuki have been picking off Jinchuuriki, 1 by 1._

_The red head starts walking around some cactus plants. _'We need to be ready when they come_,' the Kazekage abruptly stops his train of thought when he saw a staggering figure. _'What the…? Is that, Natsu?!' _Gaara quickly ran over to his friend._

_The Kazekage starts hearing Natsu moaning out something inaudible. As soon as he reached within 5 __feet, she_ _collapses into his arms. "Natsu, are you all right?" the redhead asked the smaller brunette. _

_The girl half groaned half coughed out something, but he could barely make out her words, "…help_-heavy pants-_..us…please," Natsu somehow forces out her dry throat, looking into the other's seafoam green eyes. "…To…..ki," the small girl then passed out. Leaving a scared _(worry wise) _Gaara carrying the leaf ninja back to the Hidden Sand._

_**/END\ /FLASHBACK\**_

*^.^*

Naruto was startled as a loud knock shook his door. He dropped both of his chopsticks out of surprise and immediately let out a frustrated sigh because he had just taken a pot of his favorite meal right off the stove. Yes, ramen. As always he refused to share his ramen with anybody.

Before Naruto could even look down at steaming bowl, a familiar voice yelled impatiently from the other side of the door.

"I know you're in there Naruto! I heard you when I knocked! And I can smell your food!"

Naruto froze in place, _'I know that voice.' _He thought and shuddered.

"Just open the door before my foot opens it for you!" Then a separate voice barked.

At that, Naruto sped to the door and said, "What do you want Kiba?"

Naruto swung the door open but was speechless when he saw that Shino and Hinata were standing behind Kiba, looking at something in Shino was holding in his arms.

Naruto pushed past Kiba to find out that what Shino was holding bridle style was a girl maybe a year younger than Naruto. Dark blue bruises covered a large portion of her skin. Countless leaves and twigs were entangled within her hair.

Naruto's expression turned to panic and he asked, "What happened? Is that who I think it is?"

"Yes, it is Toki. She was in the woods lying under a large bush. Akamaru found her there," Kiba explained.

"We also searched for her sister, Natsu, but there was no evidence that she was anywhere nearby," Shino added.

Naruto suddenly recalled the Chunin Exams. A slightly younger, much healthier, Toki fighting against a sound village ninja. She won the match with little difficulty. Dodging her opponent's attacks until they had no energy left. She then beat them so mercily that they couldn't even moan in pain. Well, that was kind of exaggeration, but after she finished with them, all off her opponents were afraid of her.

Naruto asked Kiba, Shino and Hinata to watch over Toki while he left to fetch a medical ninja or even the Hokage herself if nobody else would do it.

But there is always someone, and Naruto found a medical ninja who had agreed to help.

Shino carried the dark brunette to her room and carefully placed her on her bed. Kiba, Shino and Hinata promised to visit the next morning. Naruto slept on the floor next to her bed in case she happened to wake up and need something, he would be able to know immediately.

He still worried about his young friend as he closed his eyes and drifted off into the black void that would soon form a dream about kittens playing around a bowl of ramen.

**********^.^**********

**~Pony ju****st looks at the last line: ….kittens? Really?**

**~~Invader Tex: …It seemed fitting for him.**

**~Pony groans something about who would write that in their fanfiction….: Plz do R&R! :)**

*^.^*


	2. Awoken Flashbacks Part 1

**~~Invader Tex: What's up? Here's another part of this story that has consumed oh so much of my free time.**

**~Pony: just looks at her funny: *grinz' rubbin' hands together with her evil like grin* Heeheehee I'veda taken your time away from yeh life, unable to get it back! Kahahahahaha!**

**~Invader Tex: *insane smile* If this story causes me to fail my PreCal. class…**

**~~~Pony quickly whimpers & runs off to an isolated corner from the rest of the world.**

**~~Pony: PLZZZ ONEECHAN~! PLZ DON'T BRING HIM HERE!**

**~~Invader Tex: In case you guys were wondering, she's talking about Jeff The Killer which is a scary story I showed her.**

**~~Pony: Disclaimer! We don't own the series Naruto Shippuden 'n' stuff!**

************^.^************

_**Love Blooms Twice**_

_**Ch. 2: Awaken; Flashbacks Part 1**_

_***^.^***_

Blue eyes flicked open so fast, it was like someone flung open French windows. Natsu sat up fast, eyes glazed over in shock. She looks to her left where a small white bedside table was. It was plain, but elegant. It has a light brown lamp on it. It was all set in a small corner next to an opened window. It was kinda cute looking to the brunette.

Natsu then looks to her right, seeing an empty chair. She wonders who was sitting there. The ninja looks back at the open window. From where the girl sat, she could see sandy looking buildings.

"Where- Suna? But- how, why am I here?' Natsu asked herself.

"It's because Gaara found you in the desert."

The brunette faced Kankuro. The sand ninja walks in, carrying a tray of delicious looking food. Natsu gives a worried expression, eyeing at the suspicious food.

When Kankuro sets the tray down in front of his guest, he gives her an amused chuckle. "Don't worry Natsu, Temari didn't touch it. Heheh, or else it would be charred to a crisp."

"Then you made it?" Natsu asked leaning forward.

"No actually, I only helped a little. Gaara really did it. But enough about that, how are you feeling? Any sore places?"

Natsu felt around herself, "I don't know. But since I heal pretty fast, hmm…" Natsu went to get up and walk about to see if she had any sore spots.

"Natsu, you shouldn't get up yet," Kankuro tries to gently push her back down. But the blue eyed brunette wouldn't have it.

"Don't even try to stop me, Kankuro. I ain't stayin' in the bed no more then to sleep," she warned the puppeteer.

The irritated girl was swinging her legs over the bed side, when she felt her bare ankles being squeezed gently by some rough mineral material. The pale feet were pulled back into the bed. The girl looks up at the doorway.

"I'll just leave now, later Natsu," Kankuro walks out.

Gaara walks into the guestroom, his sand floating back to his gourd on his back. The redhead then takes it off, setting it to the side of the chair where Natsu's food was.

Gaara turns to Natsu, "You need to stay in bed, you're still weak."

"But I feel just fine 'n' dandy Gaara. Why can't I at _least_ stand? I've not seen any bandages."

"That's because it's been almost a week since I found you. You were dehydrated and limping," he gestures to her right foot.

Natsu pulls her foot onto her lap and sighs, "This 1 foot, has always been a problem. 1 week I sprain it, the next it's lame. I just don't get it at all. I'm always quite healthy really. It's just so dang weird."

"It will get better," Gaara then looks straight into her dull blue eyes. _'They used to sparkle like sapphires under the morning sunlight. What happened to you and Toki?' _Gaara thought. "Natsu?"

"Eh?"

"Where is Toki? You were alone in the desert, why were you there?"

Natsu looks up in Gaara's eyes, she then looks at the opened window. Gaara could see her eyes glisten in the setting sun's rays.

'_Natsu…your eyes, why are your eyes tearing up?'_ Gaara thought.

Natsu was recalling the last time she saw her sis, back at their village. So, Natsu began to speak.

_**/FLASHBACK\**_

_It was mid-evening when 2 girls came to visit their village, Blooming Meadows. They were jumping from tree to tree. Natsu looked over to her sister, Toki. She was just thinking about her sister's personality compared to hers._

_Some people say that Toki is like the shining sun, while she was like a stormy rain cloud. Toki is like the half glass full sister, while she was like the half empty glass sister. At 1 time, Natsu had Naruto and the others read 1 of her dark poems. They had said that it was very morbid. So when they said that, she just did her signature lop-sided grin._

'If Toki wrote poems like mine, then her's oughta be life like not about death like mine,' _Natsu thought, looking back ahead of them._

"_Eh? What the heck?" Natsu said seeing a thick column of black smoke, coming from the direction of the village._

"_I don't like the looks of this," Toki said under her breath as she swiftly quickened her pace._

"_Tch, just what the hell is goin' on there? You'd think that someone's doin' a huge BBQ thing on. What you think?"_

"_That's unlikely. Can't you smell it? It doesn't smell like barbecue to me."_

"_Heh, ya your right. C'mon, let's check it out," Natsu said picking up speed, getting a little ahead of her sister._

_When the 2 were in the clearing, they abruptly stopped in front of their home village. Now what they saw, left them stunned._

"_Who would do such a villainous act?"_

"_I dunno Toki, but I ain't just gonna sit around watchin' our home go up in flames," the brunette then jumped headlong into the scorching fire. Looking around the burning rubble, the blue eyed brunette called to her sister. "'Ey, Toki! You found any survivors yet?"_

"_No, not yet. There might be somebody on the south side of town!" Toki replied._

_Natsu nodded, the girls then headed downtown. But when they got there, all they saw was the result of a massacre of their people. The 2 leaf ninja were mortified at seeing their barely few friends and family's bodies so horrendously scattered everywhere as far as their eyes can see._

_The pair then heard a voice, saying something inaudible. They looked up simultaneously and saw 4 figures standing slightly less than 30 feet away._

_Their eyes widen once they could see through the thinning stale grey smoke. The 4 silhouettes had on midnight black cloaks with blood red clouds on the fabric. From what Natsu could make out, 1 of them was shorter than the others. While the other 3 were somewhere the same height. But she recognized 2 of them immediately, Deidara and Itachi Uchiha. _

'But whose the dude with blue skin?' _Natsu thought._

_Toki stood in silence next to her sister, eyes wide with fear. She had read about this group once before, but she forgot where. She did remember of course how the writing had describe them._

_Natsu nudged Toki to get away, back to Konoha while she distracted them. Toki took a step back and looked at her sister, reluctant to go. She slowly turned around and ran toward an alleyway between 2 buildings._

_Natsu looked back at the 4 Akatsuki members just to see there were only Deidara and shorty left. "Ah shit, where the hell did those 2 guys go?" she mumbled. She stepped out in the opening after that thought. She started to wave, "'Ey, by any like, any chance are you Deidara?" Natsu called out to the blonde man._

_The man looked at his partner, grinning. He looked back at the girl, placing his hands in his cloak's pockets. "Why yes, so are you a fan of my artwork, hmm?"_

"_Er, I've heard 'bout it, but didn't believe them to be true," Natsu said walking in the direction of The Land of River._

"_Ooh~, are you going to show her?" said the shorter Akatsuki member._

"_Don't you ever shut up Tobi, hmm?" Deidara then brought out his hands. "Do tell me, 3-tails. Do you like clay?"_

_From the moment Natsu started her distraction, and saw Deidara put his hands in his pockets, she knew it was just a matter of time before explosions would start happening. So when the blonde Akatsuki member asked her the question, Natsu automatically did a hand sign - similar to Gaara's – summoning her water from the ice dewdrop shaped gourd on her back. She commanded her water to start circling her legs, ready for what was about to occur. "Your clay? Hm, 'ell~ no. Sorry but I prefer _not _to be killed by exploding pieces of earth."_

_Deidara looked pissed. "Uh, ooh~," Tobi backed away from his partner._

"_So, you _don't _like my art, hmm? Well then…" Deidara tossed some of his clay in the air , _BOOM_! After the smoke discispated, there was an owl._

'Ooh damn.' _"That's what you used to kidnap Gaara. Dude, you're gonna pay for that." Natsu sent her water after the guy. "You'll pay for what you did to him!"_

_Deidara jumped onto his clay owl, avoiding the harsh thin stream of liquid. He then threw what looked like to Natsu, small white clay spiders. The clay landed all about Natsu._

"_Shi-"_

"_Katsu!"_

_There was an explosion where Natsu was standing._

"_That was easy, hmm." Deidara said flying over to Natsu's body. "What?"_

_Instead of a knocked out leaf nin, an ice dome was there. The ice retreated a lil' to where it was suspended in air around her unscathed body._

_Natsu did a lop-sided grin, running her fingers through her dark auburn colored bangs over her left eye. "Tch, didn't you guys know about _my_ gourd? Kinda like Gaara's eh?" With that the girl let her dome collapsed back into the ice dewdrop. "So, watcha gonna do now~?" the brunette sang mockingly._

_The blonde man growled, "No 1 mocks my art like that and lives!" Deidara sent many more clay bombs, spiders and some big clay centipedes after her._

_Natsu looked quite blanched when she saw the Akatsuki member send clay like bugs to her. "Gaaahhhh! Keep away, keep away!" she backed up a bit, but the blue eyed ninja failed to notice that a bunch of bombs were tossed behind her._

_**BOOM!**_

_Natsu cried out in pain; from the powerful force of the bombs, the girl was blown over to where 2 clay centipedes were waiting for her._

"_Oof," Natsu tried to get back on her feet, but she quickly realized that her legs were being constricted tightly by the clay centipedes. The trapped nin cried out, making her water collapse into the ashes from her broken concentration in her chakra flow._

_Deidara could evidently see the jinchuuriki's fear of bugs. "If you come quietly, you wouldn't need to worry about my centipedes, hmm?" The Akatsuki member jumped off his clay owl, walking up to the trapped jinchuuriki. He then kneeled before her and took ahold of Natsu's chin. He had a sinister aura about, grinning._

_She somehow pried her blue irises off the giant white bugs and hissed out at the blonde man, "Neve'a, in a million years _blondey." _She gave him a good spitting and flipped him off, all the while grinning._

_Deidara frowned, "You know full well that I can turn you into my latest mus-"_

"_But you can't, 'cuz you morons need me at _least _alive to get at Kesiya. You can't kill me." _'At least, not yet. I gotta get outta here, an' _soon!' Natsu thought._

_Deidara got up and had his clay owl fly over and jumped onto its back. The clay centipedes then dragged her body onto its tail so it'll roll up, having her trapped within the tail. ...Like a certain Kazekage had been._

"_Oh~, you ain't gonna take me alive without _bloodshed, _blondey!" Natsu then closed her eyes to concentrate on her chakra flow._

"_Come on Tobi, let's go."_

"_Ok~."_

_Unbeknowest by them, when the brunette was attacked by the centipedes, her ice dewdrop gourd quickly melted so the now water easily rose up into the still smokey air. As they start to fly away, her water shot out at the bird, making it explode._

_Natsu hissed in terrible pain as the ice also shot through her covered body. "Ohh, that's leaving a scar," the brunette groaned as she landed on her feet. She began running back towards The Land of Wind._

_Pain shot through her left side like a thousand kunai being drilled into her. The leaf ninja hissed out again but kept running like there ain't no tomorrow. In her case, it's probably true._

"_After her!"_

*^.^*

_It seemed that the chase went on for a couple of agonizing endless days. But by then, she had lost them. The blue eyed ninja was driven so far by the Akatsuki, that she went right through The Land of River and ended up in a desert._

_Natsu knew that she must've gone into The Land of Wind. The brunette had found a small rock cave to hide in from the 2 Akatsuki members and from the strong sandstorm that was raging outside. The wind had been picking up grains of sand and blowing it into the ninja's face ceaselessly. _

_Said ninja was sitting in the back of the cave. Natsu sighed, rubbing the irritating grains of sand off her dirty face. She looked at her hand, "Blood…sand…such a grainy face, eh?" she chuckled to herself. "Now, where is that dang diary? Ah, here it is." The girl pulled out her small aqua blue and white book. She started to write in it._

_**/END FLASHBACK\**_

*^.^*

Toki's entire body ached as she forced her eyes open. She heard the faint whisper of breathing and she sat up slowly and painfully to lean over the edge of the bed. Naruto was lying on the floor and mumbling. _'I guess he talks in his sleep.' _Toki thought to herself.

When she felt a breeze on the back of her neck, she reached her arm back and felt that her long, dark, hair was tied into a messy bun. Her old, torn clothes from the day before were replaced by a light white sleeveless shirt and a pair of loose fitting shorts.

The last thing the young girl remembered was hearing very familiar voices. There was two males and one female, also an animal of some type. She also remembered the feeling of weightlessness.

'_Was I being carried?'_ she thought to herself. _'I must have been. I can't think of any other explanation for this.'_

She suddenly had the urge to visit her sister's room, and her mind was filled with dread and fear for whether she would actually find her sister on not.

She made up her mind. She pulled the quilted blanket off of herself and turned to face the edge of the bed. Carefully stepping around Naruto and gritting her teeth to the massive amount of pain that washed over her as she placed one silent foot in front of the other.

The teen quietly made her way out into the hall without disturbing any of the other residents whether they were awake or not. She stood in front of her sister's door and remembered the last time she saw her sister –before they were split up -. Natsu was the same height as Toki but did not look much like her in that Natsu had bangs covering one eye and she had blue streaks in her hair. Natsu always told Toki that she had purple streaks in her hair but Toki could never find them on her own. When Toki thought of her sister's humor, she smiled, but stopped because the simple gesture pulled painfully at the cut on her cheek.

Toki reached out and grasped the brass doorknob in her hand. Her heart raced as she turned it slowly. She prayed that her sister would only just be in bed and that Toki could go back to bed and rest more peacefully.

There was a faint metallic 'click' as the mechanism loosened and allowed Toki to open the door. She cautiously opened the door to prevent the squeaky hinges from waking anybody who was still sleeping at this hour of the morning. Inch by inch the door way widened to reveal no signs of life in the room. It was entirely empty except for the furniture and Natsu's wall decorations.

Toki held back worried tears as she limped across the room to the window. The moon was gone and she knew that the sun was rising on the other side of the building. More than half of the village would be awake already. On the windowsill there were small little drawings that the artistic Toki had drawn a few days ago. She could tell because there was very little dust that had gathered in the clear spots.

Toki was too engulfed in her thoughts to realize that she'd left the door open to the room and also failed to acknowledge the approaching footsteps. A hand carefully grabbed her left arm and the right side of her waist, both of which were one of the few spots without bruises. Toki gasped quietly and doubled over in an attempt to break this person's grasp. She felt the weightless feeling again and thought she was passing out, but she soon realized that she was not falling but rising. The presence holding Toki carried her to her sister's bed and placed her in it gently.

The stranger kneeled down on the edge of the bed and whispered sternly, "You shouldn't have left your bed."

Toki immediately recognized who was talking to her; he wore several layers of clothing that concealed most of his face. He was nearly a foot taller than Toki and he spoke with intense stoicism.

For reassurance, Toki whispered, "Shino?"

He made a gesture meaning she was correct. Toki almost leapt off of the bed to hug him.

Toki's eyes welled up as she explained the events of the past two day to Shino.

"We were visiting our home village, Blooming Meadows, but when we arrived, everything was charred black. Natsu and I looked everywhere but we could not find anyone who survived. We felt watched, and when we looked up, there stood four members of the Akatsuki. Natsu told me to leave and that she would hold them off. I ran reluctantly, and knew that I was being followed. One had blue skin and I don't know his name but I do know the other. He was Itachi Uchiha."

Shino listened and did not even flinch when Naruto ran into the room almost yelling and showering both of them with questions. "What's going on?! Why did you leave your bed?! Toki, you know you're injured!"

Before Toki could answer the frantic questions Naruto pelted her with, Shino stood and turned to Naruto, he said "Toki was just explaining how she was attacked by two Akatsuki members, one of the two being Itachi Uchiha.

Naruto looked as if the last two sentences he heard took on a physical form and slapped him in the face. He looked pale and swayed back and forth as if he were about to pass out.

Toki tried to break the tension by saying, "Let's look on the bright side, I'm alive and I'm sure Natsu is okay because she _is_ stronger than me." She tried to maintain a positive attitude about the situation but was failing quickly.

"Tell me everything." Naruto demanded.

_**/FLASHBACK\**_

_Natsu and Toki stood staring at the group of four standing merely thirty feet away from the sisters._

"_Run back to Konoha!" Natsu hissed at Toki. _

"_But sister-"She stopped and knew her sister was going to say "Run you wimp!" so to avoid the insult Toki obeyed her sister and ran reluctantly._

_Toki knew immediately that she was being chased. She heard more than just her own footsteps. The young ninja heard a roaring explosion. She turned around to find her pursuers hardly fifteen feet from her and still coming closer. She saw the two and was immediately terrified for Itachi Uchiha was one of them. She felt a pulse of adrenaline and spun around to continue running and also quickened her pace. Toki felt shuriken and kunai knives passing her. None of the knives hit but she felt some graze her skin._

_She swung around and threw some knives in order to try and slow her pursuers down. She didn't look long enough to see if she had succeeded. Toki felt something hot on her back and realized there was fire behind her. She sped up and summoned a shadow clone using the wall of flames to her advantage. She knew it was difficult to see through fire so she ran while her clone distracted the two. As she ran away at full speed, she spotted a tree where an animal had burrowed a hole underneath the roots. She dropped down onto her leg and slid under the tree, masking herself in some mud underneath. _

Hopefully this den is unoccupied,_ Toki thought to herself as she dug deeper into the mud. She began to doze off but tried to stay awake longer. Eventually the fatigue caught up and she gave in and fell asleep under the tree._

_**/END FLASHBACK\**_

**~~Pony: Ok everyone that's it for now! But please do stay tuned in for our next chapy.**

**~~Invader Tex: She's forcing me to say something…. Something.**

**~~Pony: Really?**

**~~Invader Tex: Why are you making me talk? I could have just stayed quiet.**

**~~Pony: Then everyone'll think you went bye-bye. Now don't be rude.**

**~~Invader Tex: Bye guys!**

**~~Pony gives her a 'are ye kiddin' meh?!' look, she turns to the reviewers. Please review! Oh an' PLEASE do check out myh new Hetalia story that's coming out tomorrow please! Lata'!**

**_*^.^*_**


	3. Flashback Part 2

**~~Pony: Sup guys, so sorry for not updatin' in a huge bit of while.**

**~~Tex: Umm...Hi. I guess...**

**~~Pony: You've got to be kiddin' me..speak more!**

**~~Tex: I don't really like talking.**

**~~Pony: ...whatever... By the way peepers, both me an' Toki have fixed some minor problems in the 2 chs before. So if you will at least glace back on them I'd highly appreciate it! ...Toki..do the Disclaimer this time...**

**~~Tex: UGHHH... We Don't own the show Naruto or Naruto Shippuuden and this story is purely fan-made and stuff.**

**~~Pony: ..good enough...**

_**Love Blooms Twice**_

_**Ch. 3: Flashbacks Part 2**_

************^.^************

**POV 1st**

_I sighed sliding my diary back into my weapons pouch on my waist. I decide to poke my head outta the cave to see if the sandstorm has receded or not._

_"Good, sandstorm's gone, an' so are the Akatsuki." I start walking in the direction I hope to be Suna, the Hidden Sand._

_As I'm walking, or more rather limping, I try to get a sence of what happened to my dear sister._

'Did she escape Itachi Uchiha? But what 'bout that guy with him? Is he really dangerious? Oooh, I hope she's ok...'

_What seems like forever, my back feels kinda weird. Stopping to see what was wrong, I grab the deep blue strap that holds up my gourd an' swings it around so I can set it down._

_I am shocked, speechless to say the least. My eyes widen; I brush my left sided bangs away so I can study what has become of my beloved ice dewdrop shaped gourd._

_"I must be weaker than I thought. It's...it's meltin'!"_

_True to say the least, what keeps it from meltin' to begin with is that I use a tremendous amount of chakra just to keep it from doin' so. Kinda like how Gaara does with his sand armor. I feel my back with my hand to confirm. Yeah, it's water. Sighin' again, I pick u the meltin' gourd. I trudge on ahead, though._

_A couple of hours later, my once ice dewdrop is no more. All that's left, is the deep blue strap that's now soaked thrpugh. I pull down my hoodie to wrap the strap 'round my neck to keep it cool. Then flippin' the hood back over my head. As time passes on, I start to have 1 of my self doubt phases._

_*^.^*_

'Was i strong enough? To keep Deidara off my trail? Maybe I am weak, maybe he's not too far behind. I'm sure Toki is 'ell; strong as she is... *sigh* The world is full of nightmares, so what do we do? Is Toki scared? Am I scared? Are we scared? Are we gonna run? Are we gonna be tapped? The nightmares caught us.

We nearly died. But now...we're separated from each other. I want Toki back with me safe 'n' sound again... *sigh* To me right now, nowhere's safe, no 1's safe. Not with the horrid Akatsuki after me an' my sister. With my impulses an' momentarily forgetfulness, I do not believe that I will see my beloved sister ever again.

I feel like I'm empty...but not empty, 'cuz of Kesiya. She says to be brave for the both of us Jinchuuriki sisters. But now I'm truely terrified right now. I am alone. But not alone. I am physically alone... but mentally not alone. But I need at least another human being near me so I feel at _least _ok... So I know that I'm not totally alone...though when I _am_ alone, it feels like I'm the only 1 that's in the world.

I feel exposed, naked even, without my sister, Toki... But without Toki, my dear beloved sister an' only friend from my no longer existin' village, Blooming Meadows. I can only hope she's ok, maybe she has help with her...looking for me.

But...what's this in the far off distance ? Another person? Or maybe a mirage? Where am I? Am I dead? So it would ne this, this person is my...guardian angel? I don' no anythin' anymore now... I...I..I feel, feel somehow...numb now... I see black..darkness... Am I to far off gone now to survive? Is this how I was suppose to live out my patethic excuse for a life? ...am...I..soulless...am...I...

_**/END FLASHBACK\**_

*^.^*

**NORMAL POV**

Natsu looks back at the young Kazekage, wondering what he thinks of the situation. The redhead looks like he is in deep thought. The smaller brunette tugs on his robe to get his attention back on her. Her expression has all her worries about her missing sister all over her features.

"Gaara, do you think that Toki got away? I mean, Itachi Uchiha an' that shark lookin' guy are after her!" The teenager tries to get back up, only to fall forward into Gaara's arms.

The stork redhead gently places the distressing Yuki back down on the bed. "You need to relax, Natsu. You're severily injured from Deidara's attacks. You're going to be here for a few weeks recuperating," Gaara pulls the covers over her body, telling her that he'll be sending out a message for the Hidden Leaf.

Natsu yawns, feeling sleepy all of the sudden. She looks back at Gaara as he is leaving, "Gaara?" The Kazekage looks over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. The sleepy brunette yawns again then gives a small smile, "Thank you. Thank you so much, Gaara. For everythin'."

Gaara gives his injured and tired, close friend a nod. As he is closing the door, the ex-jinchuuriki host glances back at her as she falls asleep in her bed.

*^.^*

_**/FLASHBACK\**_

Toki woke abruptly from a dream. She could not remember what it was about, but from the shaking of her hands she could tell that it had not been a good dream.

Suddenly, she remembered where she was, and she began to panic. Knowing that it was not safe to stay in one spot for too long, Toki crawled cautiouly out from under the tree she had hidden in. She scanned the area for her persuers but found no evidence of them in the dense, dusty haze that lingered on the forest floor. She felt safer under the tree but she knew she had to move or she would be found.

In order to discern the time, Toki looked toward the sky, at where the sun was. She knew that the Sun sets in the west so by looking at where the Sun is she could roughly estimate which direction Konoha was in. The sky was a heavy mixture of purple and pink and the Sun sat at the center of the west side of the radiant sky.

_'I must not have been asleep for very long.' _Toki thought. She recalled that the Sun was near the center of the sky at the time she arrived at her once beautiful but now ruined hometown.

Having a new sense of direction and time, as well, Toki darted into a full sprint towards Konoha.

A gnawing suspicion grew in the tiny ninja's mind that her adversaries would not have given up that easy. The two Akatsuki members may be following her, waiting until she exhausted her self.

_'Natsu and I take this path everytime we visit Blooming Meadows. Those two may know that this is the path I took. I'll take some precautions.' _Toki decided.

She slowed and paced herself, summoned a clone who continued on the usual path while she deserted it.

Whilst the young kunoichi ran, her mind raced, _'I recognized Itachi Uchiha but the other one, the odd- looking one, I didn't know. That sword he had...I didn't like the look of it. As for that Uchiha, I know not to look at his eyes or something like that...I can't remember, but if I do, I'm dead for sure. I wonder if Natsu will be at the village when I get there. The two that she had to fight didn't seem very professional at all.' _

Her mind was brought back down to earth when her leg was caught by something and she lost balance and was thrown on the ground after somersaulting forward.

After regaining her awareness she wielded her two katars, at what seemed like lightning speed. The blades were zig-zag shaped and made of a durable yet extremely conductive metal. Etched into them were decorative lighting bolts.

She saw no other person as she looked for what had caused her to trip. There weren't any rocks on the ground or overgrown vines that may have caught her foot. She knew they had made their move. The young girl knew the two Akatsuki members would not let her go without a fight. She knew she was no good at combat. Toki was a kunoichi, she fought well, but never enjoyed it and always avoided it. She believed in sayings such as "Brains beats brawn." And always thought with logic and made plans. But now, as she stood waiting to be attacked from any angle, the self-doubting kunoichi Chunnin's mind was blank.

_'I'll be fine. I'm not a bad fighter.' _Toki reassured herself, but it didn't work very well.

She turned with her back facing Konoha, and walked slowly backwards. Peeking over her shoulder every few seconds.

_'Maybe this is just psychologically induced. I could just be going crazy from the stress.' _Toki pondered.

She looked at the ground and took note that it was very muddy, there were even a few puddles here and there. She felt at more of an advantage.

"I'm tired of running from you. Let's just finish this fight." She said aloud and flatly.

In response, she saw from a glance, several shuriken fly at her. The kunoichi was struck by two on her leg, the injury was minor, but painful. At last she knew where her enemy was.

She reached for her shuriken and threw a few, hoping to hit a target. She did notice that the area was slightly foggy as, she remembered, it had not been before.

_'Hmm..This may work better if it were foggier. I'll need to stall until the fog is thicker.' _Toki smiled as she conducted a brilliant plan. For on her left hand her katar was galvanized, or plated in zinc along the edges. On her right, copper. She had a knack, one could say, for anything pertaining to electricity.

"Would you please show yourselves? I don't enjoy speaking to thin air. It makes me feel daft. " Toki asked politely, in childish hopes that it may just work. And to her disbelief, it did! A tall, odd-looking man clad in a long black coat with red decors appeared. His skin was blue and he greatly resembled some sort of fish. He carried an odd-looking sword as well, Toki wished she didn't have to find out what it did under these circumstances.

"Hmm...You may attack first." Said the girl who was much smaller than the man and he gave off a sort of deja-vu essence. Almost as if Toki had seen him somewhere before this day.

Toki watched, ready to dodge anything, as the strange man used a water release jutsu. Caught off guard, Toki climbed to a high branch on the nearest tree. She watched as the water flowed, slowly eroding everything it came into contact with on a microscopic level.

The flow of water slowed and stopped, and Toki jumped onto a lower branch on the tree to see how soggy the ground was. It was sufficiently soaked but the wheather was not warm enough to evaporate it all.

_'Still water will have to do.' _Toki complained in her mind as she focused her chakra. She was able to produce electricity much in the way electric eels do, but she used her chakra to amplify the current and voltage.

She jumped to the ground and found herself standing many feet away from her fish-like adversary. The two enemies stood in silence, waiting for one to make a move. To break the ever so consuming silence she hated, Toki rubbed the edges of her blades together, the two blades barely touched but nonetheless produced a greatly satisfying snapping, crackling sound.

In a smug tone of voice, Toki mumbled, "Water is conductive." No more than a moment after she spoke, Toki knelt and submereged the blades of her katars into the muddy water. She looked down and watched, incedibly satisfied as the electrical current surged through the water. Momentarily, Toki thought that she could hear the water boiling in places. She removed the blades and looked up to see how this affected that fish-guy. He should definitely have been stunned by the surge. Toki knew she did not make it strong enough to kill.

To her right she saw something being swung towards her. She only had enough time to turn her face away from the weapon before she was hit and was launched in the other direction. She landed heavily on the ground and tumbled, a searing pain invaded her right shoulder everytime it hit the dense mud. The girl tried quickly to recover but was hit again from behind. She gathered her wits and climbed into a tree, where she could better defend herself for the moment.

She felt a rush of rage and power, and knew who's rage it was. Akushitsuna, Toki's tailed beast, was giving her strength. With this power she forgot the pain of all her injuries and time seemed to slow around her. She felt the static electricity in the air intensify in the area near her.

She turned and sidestepped just in time to avoid another blow from that weird weapon and saw the fish man. When he realized that she had avoided his attack, he swung again, she dodged but when the blade hit the ground, she pierced it with both of her blades and released a powerful electrical charge. She didn't know what would happen when she planned the attack, but after playing the attack out, she still did not know what it had done.

As far as Toki could tell, the sword seemed visibly unharmed by the shock. The kunoichi concluded that she would have to attempt to attack it's master. The problem with that plan was that she didn't see him anymore. He had darted into the fog which was more dense than it had previously been. She was confused until she realized exactly what they were doing. They were observing her, learning how she fought, learning her weaknesses.

More tense than ever before, Toki dashed immediately towards Konoha. She knew just how much danger she was in now.

When she had to dodge several kunai, Toki figured that they knew she had discovered their plan. As she ran, she used one of her own blades to cut a gash into the outer part of her wrists. Temporarily sheathing her katars, she spread the blood onto each of her hands and over her lower arms. She now had a backup plan.

The entrance gate to Konoha was within her sight, even though it was sunset, a few people still lingered in the streets

_'Those two can't do anything to me, now' _Confidently, she called and waved nochalantly in an attempt to catch somebody's attention, "Hey!"

She was not far from the gate, maybe twenty feet, when she was hit on the side by what she believed was that fish man's sword again. She was flung into a nearby tree so hard she lost conciousness. Toki fell into a shrub below, and the last thing she remembered seeing was that there were people obscured by the leaves of the bush. They were running out of the gates into the clearing she had stood in mere seconds ago. She fell into the dreamless void of concussion induced sleep and in it there were some familiar voices and a dog barking.

_**/END FLASHBACK\**_

**~~Tex: Pony told me i have some explaining to do. First, galvanized metal (zinc), if you've been to high school, you should know what it is. If you don't, well, its a metal that conducts electricity. Second, she told me to explain what a katar was for the people who couldn't just simply pull up another tab and look it up on google images. It's like a knife but the handle is a bit different. Imagine brass knuckles with a blade on them. Third, she wanted me to explain the ending to my part. The story is told from Toki's point of view meaning that even if I wanted to, I could not have explained in-story exactly why Itachi and Kisame did not just kill Toki after they incapacitated her. Some guards (or whatever they are called) saw the two standing outside the gate, but they didn't see Toki when she was standing there. The guards may have fought off the two Akatsuki or something else had cause those two to leave without their prey but that would have been beyond Toki's viewpoint. Fourth, Pony also wanted me to explain the whole water electrocution thing and how much mud there was. She started saying a bunch of stuff about Pokemon and about how mud dampens an electric current. Well, there was not too much mud in comparison to the water. The forest had just (sort of) been flooded, so imagine a couple inches of barely muddy water over the ground. Fifth, I doubt anyone understood as to why Toki rubber her blood on her arms. In case you didn't understand, blood can (kind of) conduct electricity because it has a bit of iron in it (It's my theory). But if you have ever heard the song "Bloodtrocuted" by Dethklok you would understand my reference. You can Speak now, Pony!**

**~~Pony: ...That was **_**too**_** long, Tex.**

**~~Tex: First you say I don't write enough, now you say I write too much! Make up your mind!**

**~~Pony: Was talkin' 'bout the "'lil" note you gave 'em.**

**~~Tex: That's what I was talking about! Well, both parts really, but did I type enough this time? I'll try to write more in the next chapter but remember, I'm not as accustomed to this as you are!**

**~~Pony: Eh, ye doin' just fine 'n' dandy at the moment.**

**~~Tex: I wonder how many comments we're going to get for my Dethklok ref...**

**~~Pony: *shruggs* A lot?**

**~~Tex: There ARE a lot of Toki Wartooth fangirls out there...it was a coincidence though, when you mistook my char's original name for Toki. So, being a fan of Metalocalypse, I went with it. Now I've forgotten what Toki's name was going to be before you "renamed" her.**

**~~Pony: ...I can't remember..whatever..**

**~~Tex: Should we upload now? I doubt anyone even enjoys reading these...**

**~~Pony: Why would you say that?!**

**~~Tex: Meh...to spite the audience...compell them to respond.**

**~~Pony: ..Peepers, don' listen to her 'k?**

**~~Tex: But I'm not physically speaking to them. They're reading this. Unless there's somebody out there who reads these on youtube like my idol, MrCreepyPasta.**

**~~Pony: ...*sigh* Gotta go guys, bye an' plz do review!**

**~~Tex: Bye...or something. I find these after-story commentaries really wierd because I'm talking to "thin air".**

**~~Pony: Now that's rude.**

**~~Tex How? Nevermind. We should upload.**

**~~Pony: Bye.**


End file.
